BY MODERN standards, British soldiers executed during the First World War were denied a fair hearing and were shot for crimes which in later years would not have carried the death penalty.
Pte Harry Farr, of the West Yorkshire Regiment, was a typical example of a man who would now be regarded as a victim of combat stress.
But in 1916 he was condemned as a coward who had failed to do his duty when many of his comrades did theirs amid the horror of trench warfare.
The Army, which occasionally lost thousands of men in battle in a day, was determined to make an example of anyone who showed weakness.
Pte Farr, 26, of Kensington, west London, volunteered at the beginning of the war in 1914 and served for 18 months before he became mentally ill.
He spent five months in hospital recovering from shell-shock before being sent back to the 1st battalion of his regiment. Shortly after his return he had a relapse and his court martial was told that on Sept 17, 1916, he failed to report for duty, planning to report sick.
But his pleas fell on deaf ears and he was dragged towards the front line. His sergeant-major told him that he would be shot and he was charged with cowardice .
His court martial was brief, ignoring his mental condition, and he was executed in October 1916.
His widow was left to bring up their daughter without an Army pension and was so ashamed that she was unable to tell her family for many years.
His granddaughter, Janet Booth, of Farnham, Surrey, said: "My family has suffered a great deal. He wasn't a coward - he was just ill. I would be delighted if his name could be exonerated."
One of the most extraordinary cases was that of Sgt Joe Stones, of the 19th Bn Durham Light Infantry, who had gained himself a reputation as a daring leader of trench raids. Sgt Stones, 25, had been on the Western Front for a year when he and some of his comrades were ambushed by the Germans while out on patrol.
He could not return fire because he had not removed a protective cover from the breech of his rifle. He turned and ran but wedged the useless gun across a trench to slow down the Germans.
He shouted "The Hun are upon us" as he reached his comrades, but he was subsequently charged with casting away his arms.
Two of the men who fled when they heard his warning, Cpls John McDonald and Peter Goggins, were charged with quitting their posts and were also court martialled.
One officer said that he had regularly been out into No Man's Land with Sgt Stones and had always "found him keen and bold". Despite this, both he and the two corporals were shot .
Sgt Stones's great-nephew, Tom Stones, 56, was pleased yesterday at the news that there might be a review.
He said: "It's a question of sheer common decency for what was a terrible travesty of justice."
